TY - JOUR
T1 - Associations between caregiver support, bullying, and depressive symptomatology among sexual minority and heterosexual girls
T2 - Results from the 2008 Boston Youth Survey
AU - Johnson, Renee M.
AU - Kidd, Jeremy D.
AU - Dunn, Erin C.
AU - Green, Jennifer Greif
AU - Corliss, Heather L.
AU - Bowen, Deborah
N1 - Funding Information:
Support for this publication was provided by a grant to Renee M. Johnson from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation through New Connections Program. The Boston Youth Survey 2008 (BYS) was funded by a grant from the CDC/NCIPC (U49CE00740) to the Harvard Youth Violence Prevention Center (HYVPC, David Hemenway, PI). Jeremy D. Kidd’s work on this project was supported by a small grant from the David Bohnett Foundation. Heather L. Corliss’s work on this project was supported by a career development award from NIDA (K01-DA023610). The content is the sole responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the CDC, the NIH, the City of Boston, or the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
PY - 2011/4
Y1 - 2011/4
N2 - Although sexual minority (SM) youth are at an increased risk for being bullied and experiencing depression, it is unclear how caregiver support is interrelated with those variables. Therefore, we sought to assess (a) the prevalence of nonphysical bullying, depressive symptomatology, and caregiver support among heterosexual and SM girls, (b) the association between caregiver support and bullying in both groups, and (c) whether sexual orientation moderates the interactive effect of caregiver support and bullying on depressive symptoms. Data come from a survey of students in 22 Boston public high schools; 99 of the 832 girls in the analytic sample were SM. We used chi-square statistics to examine group differences, and multiple regression to estimate the association between the caregiver support, sexual orientation, being bullied, and depressive symptomatology. SM girls reported similar levels of caregiver support as heterosexual girls, but reported higher levels of depressive symptomatology. They were also more likely to report nonphysical bullying. Tests for interactions were not statistically significant, suggesting that bullying, caregiver support, and sexual orientation are independently associated with depressive symptomatology.
AB - Although sexual minority (SM) youth are at an increased risk for being bullied and experiencing depression, it is unclear how caregiver support is interrelated with those variables. Therefore, we sought to assess (a) the prevalence of nonphysical bullying, depressive symptomatology, and caregiver support among heterosexual and SM girls, (b) the association between caregiver support and bullying in both groups, and (c) whether sexual orientation moderates the interactive effect of caregiver support and bullying on depressive symptoms. Data come from a survey of students in 22 Boston public high schools; 99 of the 832 girls in the analytic sample were SM. We used chi-square statistics to examine group differences, and multiple regression to estimate the association between the caregiver support, sexual orientation, being bullied, and depressive symptomatology. SM girls reported similar levels of caregiver support as heterosexual girls, but reported higher levels of depressive symptomatology. They were also more likely to report nonphysical bullying. Tests for interactions were not statistically significant, suggesting that bullying, caregiver support, and sexual orientation are independently associated with depressive symptomatology.
KW - Bullying
KW - Depression
KW - Sexual minority
KW - Social support
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U2 - 10.1080/15388220.2010.539168
DO - 10.1080/15388220.2010.539168
M3 - Article
C2 - 22707917
AN - SCOPUS:79952979623
SN - 1538-8220
VL - 10
SP - 185
EP - 200
JO - Journal of School Violence
JF - Journal of School Violence
IS - 2
ER -